September 25, 2013

Important stuff today… But I don’t know of a good point to cut it, so just click the “see more” button.

First off is something a few of us might be doing, but I’ll be the first to announce. This season we’ll finally be making use of the fact that we have a CommanderCast YouTube. My series there will be called “Wanderlust”.

Why Wanderlust? Because it seems fitting… And because the Gatherer random button told me to.

While I have a few ideas prepared, much like this article, the content isn’t likely to follow a given theme. Expect tech, gameplay, comedy… and… other things. It’s going to take a lot of time recording, setting up, and editing; so the first episode probably won’t be out for a few weeks. I had planned on doing something quick for you guys, but real life scheduling conflicts (or, rather, the limitations of internet access at certain institutions that may or may not claim to educate) put a stop to that.

Just an announcement wouldn’t make for a satisfying article… But I didn’t have anything prepared, since I thought I’d have a video… How about…

Making the Cut

It’s exactly what it sounds like. Today I obtained some things that I want to put into decks, but that means I have to make cuts…

The Newcomers

I’m the kind of person that likes to pile as many legends as possible into a deck, so long as they fit the theme, and these two seem like perfect additions to my Kresh and Bant decks respectively.

Rather than giving you both decklists and filling your screen with unnecessary text, here’s a summary of each:

Kresh – Voltron, tokens, death triggers, Vampire and Shaman tribal subthemes.
Bant – Theme deck; 22 legendary creatures each which also has a second spell that either has a flavorful or mechanical connection to that legend.

The Chopping Block

For Kresh I see six options for things to cut

Ashnod’s Altar – I don’t actually get to use this all that often; when I do, it’s usually just to get rid of tokens to make Kresh bigger or to combo with Woodfall Primus and Nim Deathmantle. That said, it is a free instant speed sac outlet.Vraska the Unseen – Vraska is actually a fairly recent addition, but for the most part she’s just been a 5 mana Vindicate… But a Vindicate is still a Vindicate, which is why so many people run Karn Liberated.Joiner Adept – It’s kind of bad, but it is mana fixing…Sangromancer – Pro: 3/3 flier for 4 that gets both of my tribal bonuses and has incidental triggers. Con: Sometimes just a 3/3 flier for 4.Korozda Guildmage – It’s a sac outlet and a token maker, but it costs mana. Tatsumasa, the Dragon’s Fang – Makes things big or makes a dragon, costs a lot.

Innitial reduction:
Well, I’ve narrowed it down a bit just from talking about them, so I’m down to Ashnod’s Altar, Joiner Adept, and Sangromancer… Let’s see how they actually hold up against direct comparison to Tymaret

Tymaret – Cheap body that can recur itself, sac outlet, incidental damage
Well, he’s obviously not overlapping with Joiner Adept in any areas but the mana curve, that leaves a sac outlet and a tribal relevant body. Given the Voltron aspect of the deck, I think the ability to consistently recur him is better than rather insignificant tribal synergies so, sorry Sangromancer, look’s like you’ve been cut; maybe you’ll find a home in the next Necropotence deck I make.

Wow… Actually writing this out for an article as I make the changes really helps… I’ll have to try doing it this way more often.

Next up is a bit more complicated, to fit Thada Adel into my Bant deck, I also have to find a card that pairs well with her, and there isn’t one already in the deck.

First I have six cards that could go with her (Bribery/Acquire would be the obvious choices, but I don’t have them):Chancellor of the Spires – It also steals stuff… But from graveyardsChromeshell Crab/Legerdemain – Control exchanging is kind of like stealing… But it would be the only morph card in the deck.Psychic Surgery – She makes them shuffle, so why not punish them again for being hit?Domineer – Artifact stealing… With the restriction that it must be an artifact creature.Fabricate – Find my own artifacts!

Shuffling is probably more common than me wanting one of the few artifacts in this deck, and chancellor isn’t guaranteed to work, so she’ll be performing surgery whenever she hits.

After a bit of thought, I think I’ve only ever cast Krond once, that’s how bad he is on mana… A pretty easy cut to make.

That was fun, but constantly going over changes to my own decks would probably be a bit boring, this seems like it could be a good audience submission/interaction piece. So, if you’re having a hard time making a cut for one of your decks and would like my opinion, email me your decklist and the card(s) you want to put in at chaosmtg@gmail.com and you might get a spot in an upcoming Making the Cut segment.